2002 Kia Carnival LS from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

10th Aug 2005, 05:02

Our 2002 Carnival blew its head at 64.000km two months out of warranty. Kia Australia put in a new motor, gave us a loaner while we waited for ours to be done; it was in a queue of three others. the dealer dealt with Kia Australia for us. I still ended up paying for the consumables. Surprisingly our car feels better than the loan Carnival. I won't be buying another carnival or any Kia again. I think Kia has a lot to answer for: they should just do the recall and be done with it! this will really affect resale values.

18th May 2006, 20:27

I have just experienced problem with motor 2002 model 85,000 km and out of warranty. Waiting to hear from dealer if KIA will come to the party and replace as a warranty. Wish me luck. If anyone has any advice, I will be glad to hear.

13th Jun 2006, 02:24

I bought a 2002 Carnival with 28,000km in 2004 thinking I would have 4 or 5 years of problem free driving. Within twelve months I noticed the engine running rough and the coolant level dropping about 1 litre with every tank of fuel. I was able to get a short engine replacement under warranty just before hitting 40,000km. I hoped then that the problem was fixed, but figured that at the very least I should get another 40,000km out of it. I am however observing similar symptoms to those which worried me before and I have not even reached 60,000km! What do I do now?

11th Oct 2006, 03:03

I purchased a 1999 KIA carnival new in 2000. It performed well up until 180,000km, then the cylinder linings moved resulting in head gasket failure. KIA provided the engine block free of a charge however I had to pay $2,800 in labour and parts. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth, as I have serviced it regularly and would not of purchased it if I knew that it had a design fault. I am pursuing the complaint through the Dept of Fair Trading. I would like to hear from anyone who has taken this action and the associated outcome.

30th Nov 2006, 02:19

More KIA Carnival woes.

We purchased a 2000 model Carnival in October 2006. The car has 174,000 kilometres, but we figured that really wasn't much in comparison to other vans we have owned giving us well over 300,000 kilometres each. How wrong we were!

We did not get one calendar month before the head gasket blew. When we approached KIA for help with what we have learned is a design fault they declined us any assistance and offered us no explanation.

21st Nov 2007, 06:10

I bought a 2002 kia Carnival in 2003. It had done 64k. At 92k it needed to be re-wired due to a fault. Just out of warranty, Kia would not fix it for free. After some lengthy talks, they agreed to fix it. Two week later the engine blew, again Kia would not replace it until 3 weeks of yelling and screaming, it took 5 weeks to get our car back, but I have to say that it is now 2007 and the car has not missed a beat.

6th Dec 2007, 06:09

I was looking at buying a used KIA Carnival LS 2002 model, and started to research the vehicle. Wow! What I found was a trail of negative stories about most of the Carnival range. The company knows about the problems, but seemingly refuses to recall the vehicle to address the problem. How on earth do they keep trading?? The Federal Govt. should suspend all KIA imports until the company accepts responsibility for their faulty product (not of merchantable quality) as is required by the Trade Practices Act. There are many consumers who've had really bad experiences with this company (http://www.motorsm.com/complaints/000.asp?catid=1101).

All I can suggest is that the Federal Govt. Minister responsible for vehicle imports be hounded with letters of demand outlining the problems experienced and seeking an assurance that KIA do the right thing by its customers, or kick them off the imports list. Good luck, but I think I'll look at another people mover.

25th Jun 2008, 05:06

Brought our carnival in Feb 2003. Was using coolant for about 12 months before it finally let go in early June 2008. Two independent mechanics told us that it was a blown head with coolant present in the block. We have been waiting for 3 weeks for word regarding a fix for the engine at the place were it was brought. It seems there are a lot of KIA owners experiencing the same fate. My slant on the situation is that dealerships selling these lemons must accept some of the blame. It seems the problem has been known widely, for a number of years, within industry circles yet they continued to sell as if no problem existed. Most Australians are brought up to be fair dinkim and hard working. Maybe KIA and Korean values, in particular, are different to ours. It seems to me a lot of car dealerships have been "Koreanised" and should take a good hard look at themselves and stop ripping off fellow Australians.

14th Aug 2008, 09:55

My wife bought a 2006 Kia Carnival LS, since then she has had all kinds of brake problems and heavy shaking in the front end, every time she steps on the brakes.

I have talked to the dealer in Guatemala, and all they have done is replacing brake pads.

When I decided, that enough was enough, We took the car to said dealer to be exchange for any new Kia unit, but a Carnival, To our surprise, we were told by the salesperson that they don´t accept our Carnival as a trade in, since they consider such model to be "UNSALEABLE".

Since then we feel betrayed by KIA, after having been faithful to their brand, and owning three Optimas and Magentis before our sad experience with our Carnival, we felt we deserve to be treated honestly by KIA.

28th Aug 2008, 22:40

About almost 5 years ago, without doing research, I planned to buy KIA Carnival as my friend already bought one.

But, I was also interested in a Proton Impian. So, I needed to decide which one will fulfill my need... As a father of 2 sons, I finally decided to buy a Proton Impian (thank god that decision save me now). That time, my friend who owned the Carnival asked me, why I'm buying Proton Impian as others people say Proton was a junk. I just ignore what people say about my car.. when my car reached about 40000km, my friend told me that his Carnival engine got problems with it. The engine head gasket and he needed to replace it with a new engine.. somehow my car still perfectly functions, running on the road without any problem at that time..

Until now, the only problem of my Proton Impian was power window switch, fuel pump (replaced at 95000km) and radiator fan motor (replaced at 100000km), my Impian engine still runs smoothly without any problem, after all that problem part was replaced, my car now almost trouble free.. All I mention about my car problems are just a minor problems... this car was great but not superb.. but it's handling was superb.. now I trust more Proton than KIA...

Thank god that I didn't buy a KIA Carnival that time.. if yes, I would have suffered just like my friend and the others who already changed their engine so many times.. as my friend told me that his Carnival encountered a lots of problems, and until now his car is parked in front of his house, becoming a decoration as he refuses to repair the engine twice..

For other owners of the KIA Carnival... if you all need to change your engine, try to drop another engine inside your car hood.. just refuse to use standard Carnival engine to avoid the same problem arising...